UE Initiated Beam Management Procedure

ABSTRACT

Apparatuses, systems, and methods for a wireless device to perform user equipment (UE) initiated beam management procedures with a base station or gNB. A wireless device in communication with a 5G base station may detect degradation in the pair of transmit and receive beams between the gNB and the device. The device may select a preferred beam management procedure and indicate the preference to the gNB.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/145,411, entitled “UE Initiated Beam Management Procedure,” filedSep. 28, 2018, which claims priority to U.S. provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 62/586,747, entitled “UE Initiated Beam ManagementProcedure,” filed Nov. 15, 2017, and also claims priority to U.S.provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/584,668, entitled “UEInitiated Beam Management Procedure,” filed Nov. 10, 2017, each of whichis hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety as though fully andcompletely set forth herein.

The claims in the instant application are different than those of theparent application or other related applications. The Applicanttherefore rescinds any disclaimer of claim scope made in the parentapplication or any predecessor application in relation to the instantapplication. The Examiner is therefore advised that any such previousdisclaimer and the cited references that it was made to avoid, may needto be revisited. Further, any disclaimer made in the instant applicationshould not be read into or against the parent application or otherrelated applications.

FIELD

The present application relates to wireless devices, and moreparticularly to apparatus, systems, and methods for a wireless device toinitiate beam management procedures for next generation radio accesstechnologies.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Wireless communication systems are rapidly growing in usage. Further,wireless communication technology has evolved from voice-onlycommunications to also include the transmission of data, such asInternet and multimedia content. Thus, improvements in the field aredesired.

SUMMARY

Embodiments relate to apparatuses, systems, and methods to perform beammanagement procedures of a wireless device and a next generation networknode (e.g., a fifth generation new radio (5G NR) network node alsocalled a gNB). A wireless device may establish communication with thegNB and may receive an indication of a transmission (Tx) beam used bythe gNB. The wireless device may determine at least one reception (Rx)beam based on the indication of the Tx beam. The wireless device maydetect an opportunity for beam improvement based on radio measurementsand/or other sensors (e.g., indicating motion of the device). The devicemay select a beam management procedure, and possibly additional relatedparameters, and provide an indication of the selection to the gNB.

This Summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of thesubject matter described in this document. Accordingly, it will beappreciated that the above-described features are merely examples andshould not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subjectmatter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, andadvantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparentfrom the following Detailed Description, Figures, and Claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the present subject matter can be obtainedwhen the following detailed description of various embodiments isconsidered in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication system, accordingto some embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a base station (BS) in communication with a userequipment (UE) device, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example block diagram of a UE, according to someembodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example block diagram of a BS, according to someembodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example block diagram of cellular communicationcircuitry, according to some embodiments;

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate examples of a 5G NR base station (gNB),according to some embodiments;

FIG. 7 illustrates beam management procedures, according to someembodiments;

FIG. 8 illustrates beam management procedures P2 and P3, according tosome embodiments;

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate the effects of motion of a UE on beamselection, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating techniques for UE initiated beammanagement procedures, according to some embodiments;

FIGS. 11A-11D illustrate exemplary PUCCH formats, according to someembodiments;

FIG. 12 illustrates exemplary RACH preambles, according to someembodiments;

FIG. 13 illustrates exemplary mapping techniques, according to someembodiments; and

FIGS. 14-17 illustrate Rx beam sweeping techniques, according to someembodiments.

While the features described herein may be susceptible to variousmodifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof areshown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described indetail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detaileddescription thereto are not intended to be limiting to the particularform disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover allmodifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spiritand scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Terms

The following is a glossary of terms used in this disclosure:

Memory Medium—Any of various types of non-transitory memory devices orstorage devices. The term “memory medium” is intended to include aninstallation medium, e.g., a CD-ROM, floppy disks, or tape device; acomputer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM,SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; a non-volatile memory such as a Flash,magnetic media, e.g., a hard drive, or optical storage; registers, orother similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium mayinclude other types of non-transitory memory as well or combinationsthereof. In addition, the memory medium may be located in a firstcomputer system in which the programs are executed, or may be located ina second different computer system which connects to the first computersystem over a network, such as the Internet. In the latter instance, thesecond computer system may provide program instructions to the firstcomputer for execution. The term “memory medium” may include two or morememory mediums which may reside in different locations, e.g., indifferent computer systems that are connected over a network. The memorymedium may store program instructions (e.g., embodied as computerprograms) that may be executed by one or more processors.

Carrier Medium—a memory medium as described above, as well as a physicaltransmission medium, such as a bus, network, and/or other physicaltransmission medium that conveys signals such as electrical,electromagnetic, or digital signals.

Programmable Hardware Element—includes various hardware devicescomprising multiple programmable function blocks connected via aprogrammable interconnect. Examples include FPGAs (Field ProgrammableGate Arrays), PLDs (Programmable Logic Devices), FPOAs (FieldProgrammable Object Arrays), and CPLDs (Complex PLDs). The programmablefunction blocks may range from fine grained (combinatorial logic or lookup tables) to coarse grained (arithmetic logic units or processorcores). A programmable hardware element may also be referred to as“reconfigurable logic”.

Computer System—any of various types of computing or processing systems,including a personal computer system (PC), mainframe computer system,workstation, network appliance, Internet appliance, personal digitalassistant (PDA), television system, grid computing system, or otherdevice or combinations of devices. In general, the term “computersystem” can be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combinationof devices) having at least one processor that executes instructionsfrom a memory medium.

User Equipment (UE) (or “UE Device”)—any of various types of computersystems devices which are mobile or portable and which performs wirelesscommunications. Examples of UE devices include mobile telephones orsmart phones (e.g., iPhone™, Android™-based phones), portable gamingdevices (e.g., Nintendo DS™, Play Station Portable™, Gameboy Advance™,iPhone™), laptops, wearable devices (e.g. smart watch, smart glasses),PDAs, portable Internet devices, music players, data storage devices, orother handheld devices, etc. In general, the term “UE” or “UE device”can be broadly defined to encompass any electronic, computing, and/ortelecommunications device (or combination of devices) which is easilytransported by a user and capable of wireless communication.

Wireless Device—any of various types of computer system devices whichperforms wireless communications. A wireless device can be portable (ormobile) or may be stationary or fixed at a certain location. A UE is anexample of a wireless device.

Communication Device—any of various types of computer systems or devicesthat perform communications, where the communications can be wired orwireless. A communication device can be portable (or mobile) or may bestationary or fixed at a certain location. A wireless device is anexample of a communication device. A UE is another example of acommunication device.

Base Station—The term “Base Station” has the full breadth of itsordinary meaning, and at least includes a wireless communication stationinstalled at a fixed location and used to communicate as part of awireless telephone system or radio system.

Processing Element—refers to various elements or combinations ofelements that are capable of performing a function in a device, such asa user equipment or a cellular network device. Processing elements mayinclude, for example: processors and associated memory, portions orcircuits of individual processor cores, entire processor cores,processor arrays, circuits such as an ASIC (Application SpecificIntegrated Circuit), programmable hardware elements such as a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA), as well any of various combinations ofthe above.

Channel—a medium used to convey information from a sender (transmitter)to a receiver. It should be noted that since characteristics of the term“channel” may differ according to different wireless protocols, the term“channel” as used herein may be considered as being used in a mannerthat is consistent with the standard of the type of device withreference to which the term is used. In some standards, channel widthsmay be variable (e.g., depending on device capability, band conditions,etc.). For example, LTE may support scalable channel bandwidths from 1.4MHz to 20 MHz. In contrast, WLAN channels may be 22 MHz wide whileBluetooth channels may be 1 Mhz wide. Other protocols and standards mayinclude different definitions of channels. Furthermore, some standardsmay define and use multiple types of channels, e.g., different channelsfor uplink or downlink and/or different channels for different uses suchas data, control information, etc.

Band—The term “band” has the full breadth of its ordinary meaning, andat least includes a section of spectrum (e.g., radio frequency spectrum)in which channels are used or set aside for the same purpose.

Automatically—refers to an action or operation performed by a computersystem (e.g., software executed by the computer system) or device (e.g.,circuitry, programmable hardware elements, ASICs, etc.), without userinput directly specifying or performing the action or operation. Thusthe term “automatically” is in contrast to an operation being manuallyperformed or specified by the user, where the user provides input todirectly perform the operation. An automatic procedure may be initiatedby input provided by the user, but the subsequent actions that areperformed “automatically” are not specified by the user, i.e., are notperformed “manually”, where the user specifies each action to perform.For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting eachfield and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typinginformation, selecting check boxes, radio selections, etc.) is fillingout the form manually, even though the computer system must update theform in response to the user actions. The form may be automaticallyfilled out by the computer system where the computer system (e.g.,software executing on the computer system) analyzes the fields of theform and fills in the form without any user input specifying the answersto the fields. As indicated above, the user may invoke the automaticfilling of the form, but is not involved in the actual filling of theform (e.g., the user is not manually specifying answers to fields butrather they are being automatically completed). The presentspecification provides various examples of operations beingautomatically performed in response to actions the user has taken.

Approximately—refers to a value that is almost correct or exact. Forexample, approximately may refer to a value that is within 1 to 10percent of the exact (or desired) value. It should be noted, however,that the actual threshold value (or tolerance) may be applicationdependent. For example, in some embodiments, “approximately” may meanwithin 0.1% of some specified or desired value, while in various otherembodiments, the threshold may be, for example, 2%, 3%, 5%, and soforth, as desired or as required by the particular application.

Concurrent—refers to parallel execution or performance, where tasks,processes, or programs are performed in an at least partiallyoverlapping manner. For example, concurrency may be implemented using“strong” or strict parallelism, where tasks are performed (at leastpartially) in parallel on respective computational elements, or using“weak parallelism”, where the tasks are performed in an interleavedmanner, e.g., by time multiplexing of execution threads.

Configured to—Various components may be described as “configured to”perform a task or tasks. In such contexts, “configured to” is a broadrecitation generally meaning “having structure that” performs the taskor tasks during operation. As such, the component can be configured toperform the task even when the component is not currently performingthat task (e.g., a set of electrical conductors may be configured toelectrically connect a module to another module, even when the twomodules are not connected). In some contexts, “configured to” may be abroad recitation of structure generally meaning “having circuitry that”performs the task or tasks during operation. As such, the component canbe configured to perform the task even when the component is notcurrently on. In general, the circuitry that forms the structurecorresponding to “configured to” may include hardware circuits.

Various components may be described as performing a task or tasks, forconvenience in the description. Such descriptions should be interpretedas including the phrase “configured to.” Reciting a component that isconfigured to perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not toinvoke 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) interpretation for that component.

Acronyms

BM: beam management

QCL: quasi-colocation

DCI: downlink control information

TCI: transmission configuration indicator

CSI: channel state information

RS: reference signal

P-CSI-RS: Periodic CSI-RS

SP-CSI-RS: Semi-persistent CSI-RS

SSB: Synchronisation Signal Blocks

SRS: Sound Reference Signal Resource Set

CRS: CSI-RS Resource Set

CORESET: Control Resource Set

FIGS. 1 and 2—Communication System

FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified example wireless communication system,according to some embodiments. It is noted that the system of FIG. 1 ismerely one example of a possible system, and that features of thisdisclosure may be implemented in any of various systems, as desired.

As shown, the example wireless communication system includes a basestation 102 which communicates over a transmission medium with one ormore user devices 106A, 106B, etc., through 106N. Each of the userdevices may be referred to herein as a “user equipment” (UE). Thus, theuser devices 106 are referred to as UEs or UE devices.

The base station (BS) 102 may be a base transceiver station (BTS) orcell site (a “cellular base station”), and may include hardware thatenables wireless communication with the UEs 106A through 106N.

The communication area (or coverage area) of the base station may bereferred to as a “cell.” The base station 102 and the UEs 106 may beconfigured to communicate over the transmission medium using any ofvarious radio access technologies (RATs), also referred to as wirelesscommunication technologies, or telecommunication standards, such as GSM,UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces),LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), 5G new radio (5G NR), HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000(e.g., 1×RTT, 1×EV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), etc. Note that if the base station102 is implemented in the context of LTE, it may alternately be referredto as an ‘eNodeB’ or ‘eNB’. Note that if the base station 102 isimplemented in the context of 5G NR, it may alternately be referred toas ‘gNodeB’ or ‘gNB’.

As shown, the base station 102 may also be equipped to communicate witha network 100 (e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider, atelecommunication network such as a public switched telephone network(PSTN), and/or the Internet, among various possibilities). Thus, thebase station 102 may facilitate communication between the user devicesand/or between the user devices and the network 100. In particular, thecellular base station 102 may provide UEs 106 with varioustelecommunication capabilities, such as voice, SMS and/or data services.

Base station 102 and other similar base stations operating according tothe same or a different cellular communication standard may thus beprovided as a network of cells, which may provide continuous or nearlycontinuous overlapping service to UEs 106A-N and similar devices over ageographic area via one or more cellular communication standards.

Thus, while base station 102 may act as a “serving cell” for UEs 106A-Nas illustrated in FIG. 1, each UE 106 may also be capable of receivingsignals from (and possibly within communication range of) one or moreother cells (which might be provided by other base stations 102B-N),which may be referred to as “neighboring cells”. Such cells may also becapable of facilitating communication between user devices and/orbetween user devices and the network 100. Such cells may include “macro”cells, “micro” cells, “pico” cells, and/or cells which provide any ofvarious other granularities of service area size. Other configurationsare also possible.

In some embodiments, base station 102 may be a next generation basestation, e.g., a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or “gNB”. In someembodiments, a gNB may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core(EPC) network and/or to a NR core (NRC) network. In addition, a gNB cellmay include one or more transition and reception points (TRPs). Inaddition, a UE capable of operating according to 5G NR may be connectedto one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs.

Note that a UE 106 may be capable of communicating using multiplewireless communication standards. For example, the UE 106 may beconfigured to communicate using a wireless networking (e.g., Wi-Fi)and/or peer-to-peer wireless communication protocol (e.g., Bluetooth,Wi-Fi peer-to-peer, etc.) in addition to at least one cellularcommunication protocol (e.g., GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example,WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR, HSPA, 3GPP2CDMA2000 (e.g., 1×RTT, 1×EV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), etc.). The UE 106 may alsoor alternatively be configured to communicate using one or more globalnavigational satellite systems (GNSS, e.g., GPS or GLONASS), one or moremobile television broadcasting standards (e.g., ATSC-M/H), and/or anyother wireless communication protocol, if desired. Other combinations ofwireless communication standards (including more than two wirelesscommunication standards) are also possible.

FIG. 2 illustrates user equipment 106 (e.g., one of the devices 106Athrough 106N) in communication with a base station 102, according tosome embodiments. The UE 106 may be a device with cellular communicationcapability such as a mobile phone, a hand-held device, a computer or atablet, or virtually any type of wireless device.

The UE 106 may include a processor that is configured to execute programinstructions stored in memory. The UE 106 may perform any of the methodembodiments described herein by executing such stored instructions.Alternatively, or in addition, the UE 106 may include a programmablehardware element such as an FPGA (field-programmable gate array) that isconfigured to perform any of the method embodiments described herein, orany portion of any of the method embodiments described herein.

The UE 106 may include one or more antennas for communicating using oneor more wireless communication protocols or technologies. In someembodiments, the UE 106 may be configured to communicate using, forexample, CDMA2000 (1×RTT/1×EV-DO/HRPD/eHRPD) or LTE using a singleshared radio and/or GSM or LTE using the single shared radio. The sharedradio may couple to a single antenna, or may couple to multiple antennas(e.g., for multiple-input, multiple-output or “MIMO”) for performingwireless communications. In general, a radio may include any combinationof a baseband processor, analog RF signal processing circuitry (e.g.,including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or digitalprocessing circuitry (e.g., for digital modulation as well as otherdigital processing). Similarly, the radio may implement one or morereceive and transmit chains using the aforementioned hardware. Forexample, the UE 106 may share one or more parts of a receive and/ortransmit chain between multiple wireless communication technologies,such as those discussed above.

In some embodiments, the UE 106 may include any number of antennas andmay be configured to use the antennas to transmit and/or receivedirectional wireless signals (e.g., beams). Similarly, the BS 102 mayalso include any number of antennas and may be configured to use theantennas to transmit and/or receive directional wireless signals (e.g.,beams).

In some embodiments, the UE 106 may include separate transmit and/orreceive chains (e.g., including separate antennas and other radiocomponents) for each wireless communication protocol with which it isconfigured to communicate. As a further possibility, the UE 106 mayinclude one or more radios which are shared between multiple wirelesscommunication protocols, and one or more radios which are usedexclusively by a single wireless communication protocol. For example,the UE 106 might include a shared radio for communicating using eitherof LTE or 5G NR (or LTE or 1×RTT or LTE or GSM), and separate radios forcommunicating using each of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Other configurationsare also possible.

FIG. 3—Block Diagram of a UE

FIG. 3 illustrates an example simplified block diagram of acommunication device 106, according to some embodiments. It is notedthat the block diagram of the communication device of FIG. 3 is only oneexample of a possible communication device. According to embodiments,communication device 106 may be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobiledevice or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, adesktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., alaptop, notebook, or portable computing device), a tablet and/or acombination of devices, among other devices. As shown, the communicationdevice 106 may include a set of components 300 configured to performcore functions. For example, this set of components may be implementedas a system on chip (SOC), which may include portions for variouspurposes. Alternatively, this set of components 300 may be implementedas separate components or groups of components for the various purposes.The set of components 300 may be coupled (e.g., communicatively;directly or indirectly) to various other circuits of the communicationdevice 106.

For example, the communication device 106 may include various types ofmemory (e.g., including NAND flash 310), an input/output interface suchas connector I/F 320 (e.g., for connecting to a computer system; dock;charging station; input devices, such as a microphone, camera, keyboard;output devices, such as speakers; etc.), the display 360, which may beintegrated with or external to the communication device 106, andcellular communication circuitry 330 such as for 5G NR, LTE, GSM, etc.,and short to medium range wireless communication circuitry 329 (e.g.,Bluetooth™ and WLAN circuitry). In some embodiments, communicationdevice 106 may include wired communication circuitry (not shown), suchas a network interface card, e.g., for Ethernet.

The cellular communication circuitry 330 may couple (e.g.,communicatively; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, suchas antennas 335 and 336 as shown. The short to medium range wirelesscommunication circuitry 329 may also couple (e.g., communicatively;directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas 337and 338 as shown. Alternatively, the short to medium range wirelesscommunication circuitry 329 may couple (e.g., communicatively; directlyor indirectly) to the antennas 335 and 336 in addition to, or insteadof, coupling (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to theantennas 337 and 338. The short to medium range wireless communicationcircuitry 329 and/or cellular communication circuitry 330 may includemultiple receive chains and/or multiple transmit chains for receivingand/or transmitting multiple spatial streams, such as in amultiple-input multiple output (MIMO) configuration.

In some embodiments, as further described below, cellular communicationcircuitry 330 may include dedicated receive chains (including and/orcoupled to, e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly. dedicatedprocessors and/or radios) for multiple RATs (e.g., a first receive chainfor LTE and a second receive chain for 5G NR). In addition, in someembodiments, cellular communication circuitry 330 may include a singletransmit chain that may be switched between radios dedicated to specificRATs. For example, a first radio may be dedicated to a first RAT, e.g.,LTE, and may be in communication with a dedicated receive chain and atransmit chain shared with an additional radio, e.g., a second radiothat may be dedicated to a second RAT, e.g., 5G NR, and may be incommunication with a dedicated receive chain and the shared transmitchain.

The communication device 106 may also include and/or be configured foruse with one or more user interface elements. The user interfaceelements may include any of various elements, such as display 360 (whichmay be a touchscreen display), a keyboard (which may be a discretekeyboard or may be implemented as part of a touchscreen display), amouse, a microphone and/or speakers, one or more cameras, one or morebuttons, and/or any of various other elements capable of providinginformation to a user and/or receiving or interpreting user input.

The communication device 106 may further include one or more smart cards345 that include SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) functionality, such asone or more UICC(s) (Universal Integrated Circuit Card(s)) cards 345.

As shown, the SOC 300 may include processor(s) 302, which may executeprogram instructions for the communication device 106 and displaycircuitry 304, which may perform graphics processing and provide displaysignals to the display 360. The processor(s) 302 may also be coupled tomemory management unit (MMU) 340, which may be configured to receiveaddresses from the processor(s) 302 and translate those addresses tolocations in memory (e.g., memory 306, read only memory (ROM) 350, NANDflash memory 310) and/or to other circuits or devices, such as thedisplay circuitry 304, short range wireless communication circuitry 229,cellular communication circuitry 330, connector I/F 320, and/or display360. The MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and pagetable translation or set up. In some embodiments, the MMU 340 may beincluded as a portion of the processor(s) 302.

As noted above, the communication device 106 may be configured tocommunicate using wireless and/or wired communication circuitry. Thecommunication device 106 may be configured to transmit a request toattach to a first network node operating according to the first RAT andtransmit an indication that the wireless device is capable ofmaintaining substantially concurrent connections with the first networknode and a second network node that operates according to the secondRAT. The wireless device may also be configured transmit a request toattach to the second network node. The request may include an indicationthat the wireless device is capable of maintaining substantiallyconcurrent connections with the first and second network nodes. Further,the wireless device may be configured to receive an indication that dualconnectivity with the first and second network nodes has beenestablished.

As described herein, the communication device 106 may include hardwareand software components for implementing features for using RRCmultiplexing to perform transmissions according to multiple radio accesstechnologies in the same frequency carrier, as well as the various othertechniques described herein. The processor 302 of the communicationdevice 106 may be configured to implement part or all of the featuresdescribed herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on amemory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium).Alternatively (or in addition), processor 302 may be configured as aprogrammable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable GateArray), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).Alternatively (or in addition) the processor 302 of the communicationdevice 106, in conjunction with one or more of the other components 300,304, 306, 310, 320, 329, 330, 340, 345, 350, 360 may be configured toimplement part or all of the features described herein.

In addition, as described herein, processor 302 may include one or moreprocessing elements. Thus, processor 302 may include one or moreintegrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functionsof processor 302. In addition, each integrated circuit may includecircuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured toperform the functions of processor(s) 302.

Further, as described herein, cellular communication circuitry 330 andshort range wireless communication circuitry 329 may each include one ormore processing elements. In other words, one or more processingelements may be included in cellular communication circuitry 330 and,similarly, one or more processing elements may be included in shortrange wireless communication circuitry 329. Thus, cellular communicationcircuitry 330 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that areconfigured to perform the functions of cellular communication circuitry330. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g.,first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform thefunctions of cellular communication circuitry 230. Similarly, the shortrange wireless communication circuitry 329 may include one or more ICsthat are configured to perform the functions of short range wirelesscommunication circuitry 32. In addition, each integrated circuit mayinclude circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.)configured to perform the functions of short range wirelesscommunication circuitry 329.

FIG. 4—Block Diagram of a Base Station

FIG. 4 illustrates an example block diagram of a base station 102,according to some embodiments. It is noted that the base station of FIG.4 is merely one example of a possible base station. As shown, the basestation 102 may include processor(s) 404 which may execute programinstructions for the base station 102. The processor(s) 404 may also becoupled to memory management unit (MMU) 440, which may be configured toreceive addresses from the processor(s) 404 and translate thoseaddresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read only memory(ROM) 450) or to other circuits or devices.

The base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. Thenetwork port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network andprovide a plurality of devices, such as UE devices 106, access to thetelephone network as described above in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The network port 470 (or an additional network port) may also oralternatively be configured to couple to a cellular network, e.g., acore network of a cellular service provider. The core network mayprovide mobility related services and/or other services to a pluralityof devices, such as UE devices 106. In some cases, the network port 470may couple to a telephone network via the core network, and/or the corenetwork may provide a telephone network (e.g., among other UE devicesserviced by the cellular service provider).

In some embodiments, base station 102 may be a next generation basestation, e.g., a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or “gNB”. In suchembodiments, base station 102 may be connected to a legacy evolvedpacket core (EPC) network and/or to a NR core (NRC) network. Inaddition, base station 102 may be considered a 5G NR cell and mayinclude one or more transition and reception points (TRPs). In addition,a UE capable of operating according to 5G NR may be connected to one ormore TRPs within one or more gNBs.

The base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434, and possiblymultiple antennas. The at least one antenna 434 may be configured tooperate as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured tocommunicate with UE devices 106 via radio 430. The antenna 434communicates with the radio 430 via communication chain 432.Communication chain 432 may be a receive chain, a transmit chain orboth. The radio 430 may be configured to communicate via variouswireless communication standards, including, but not limited to, 5G NR,LTE, LTE-A, GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, Wi-Fi, etc.

The base station 102 may be configured to communicate wirelessly usingmultiple wireless communication standards. In some instances, the basestation 102 may include multiple radios, which may enable the basestation 102 to communicate according to multiple wireless communicationtechnologies. For example, as one possibility, the base station 102 mayinclude an LTE radio for performing communication according to LTE aswell as a 5G NR radio for performing communication according to 5G NR.In such a case, the base station 102 may be capable of operating as bothan LTE base station and a 5G NR base station. As another possibility,the base station 102 may include a multi-mode radio which is capable ofperforming communications according to any of multiple wirelesscommunication technologies (e.g., 5G NR and Wi-Fi, LTE and Wi-Fi, LTEand UMTS, LTE and CDMA2000, UMTS and GSM, etc.).

As described further subsequently herein, the BS 102 may includehardware and software components for implementing or supportingimplementation of features described herein. The processor 404 of thebase station 102 may be configured to implement or supportimplementation of part or all of the methods described herein, e.g., byexecuting program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., anon-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, theprocessor 404 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, suchas an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit), or a combination thereof. Alternatively(or in addition) the processor 404 of the BS 102, in conjunction withone or more of the other components 430, 432, 434, 440, 450, 460, 470may be configured to implement or support implementation of part or allof the features described herein.

In addition, as described herein, processor(s) 404 may include one ormore processing elements. Thus, processor(s) 404 may include one or moreintegrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functionsof processor(s) 404. In addition, each integrated circuit may includecircuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured toperform the functions of processor(s) 404.

Further, as described herein, radio 430 may include one or moreprocessing elements. Thus, radio 430 may include one or more integratedcircuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of radio430. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g.,first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform thefunctions of radio 430.

FIG. 5—Block Diagram of Cellular Communication Circuitry

FIG. 5 illustrates an example simplified block diagram of cellularcommunication circuitry, according to some embodiments. It is noted thatthe block diagram of the cellular communication circuitry of FIG. 5 isonly one example of a possible cellular communication circuit; othercircuits, such as circuits including or coupled to sufficient antennasfor different RATs to perform uplink activities using separate antennas,are also possible. According to embodiments, cellular communicationcircuitry 330 may be included in a communication device, such ascommunication device 106 described above. As noted above, communicationdevice 106 may be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device ormobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, a desktopcomputer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop,notebook, or portable computing device), a tablet and/or a combinationof devices, among other devices.

The cellular communication circuitry 330 may couple (e.g.,communicatively; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, suchas antennas 335 a-b and 336 as shown (in FIG. 3). In some embodiments,cellular communication circuitry 330 may include dedicated receivechains (including and/or coupled to, e.g., communicatively; directly orindirectly. dedicated processors and/or radios) for multiple RATs (e.g.,a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for 5G NR). Forexample, as shown in FIG. 5, cellular communication circuitry 330 mayinclude a modem 510 and a modem 520. Modem 510 may be configured forcommunications according to a first RAT, e.g., such as LTE or LTE-A, andmodem 520 may be configured for communications according to a secondRAT, e.g., such as 5G NR.

As shown, modem 510 may include one or more processors 512 and a memory516 in communication with processors 512. Modem 510 may be incommunication with a radio frequency (RF) front end 530. RF front end530 may include circuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals.For example, RF front end 530 may include receive circuitry (RX) 532 andtransmit circuitry (TX) 534. In some embodiments, receive circuitry 532may be in communication with downlink (DL) front end 550, which mayinclude circuitry for receiving radio signals via antenna 335 a.

Similarly, modem 520 may include one or more processors 522 and a memory526 in communication with processors 522. Modem 520 may be incommunication with an RF front end 540. RF front end 540 may includecircuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals. For example, RFfront end 540 may include receive circuitry 542 and transmit circuitry544. In some embodiments, receive circuitry 542 may be in communicationwith DL front end 560, which may include circuitry for receiving radiosignals via antenna 335 b.

In some embodiments, a switch 570 may couple transmit circuitry 534 touplink (UL) front end 572. In addition, switch 570 may couple transmitcircuitry 544 to UL front end 572. UL front end 572 may includecircuitry for transmitting radio signals via antenna 336. Thus, whencellular communication circuitry 330 receives instructions to transmitaccording to the first RAT (e.g., as supported via modem 510), switch570 may be switched to a first state that allows modem 510 to transmitsignals according to the first RAT (e.g., via a transmit chain thatincludes transmit circuitry 534 and UL front end 572). Similarly, whencellular communication circuitry 330 receives instructions to transmitaccording to the second RAT (e.g., as supported via modem 520), switch570 may be switched to a second state that allows modem 520 to transmitsignals according to the second RAT (e.g., via a transmit chain thatincludes transmit circuitry 544 and UL front end 572).

In some embodiments, the cellular communication circuitry 330 may beconfigured to transmit, via the first modem while the switch is in thefirst state, a request to attach to a first network node operatingaccording to the first RAT and transmit, via the first modem while theswitch is in a first state, an indication that the wireless device iscapable of maintaining substantially concurrent connections with thefirst network node and a second network node that operates according tothe second RAT. The wireless device may also be configured transmit, viathe second radio while the switch is in a second state, a request toattach to the second network node. The request may include an indicationthat the wireless device is capable of maintaining substantiallyconcurrent connections with the first and second network nodes. Further,the wireless device may be configured to receive, via the first radio,an indication that dual connectivity with the first and second networknodes has been established.

As described herein, the modem 510 may include hardware and softwarecomponents for implementing features for using RRC multiplexing toperform transmissions according to multiple radio access technologies inthe same frequency carrier, as well as the various other techniquesdescribed herein. The processors 512 may be configured to implement partor all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing programinstructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitorycomputer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition),processor 512 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, suchas an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition) theprocessor 512, in conjunction with one or more of the other components530, 532, 534, 550, 570, 572, 335 and 336 may be configured to implementpart or all of the features described herein.

In addition, as described herein, processors 512 may include one or moreprocessing elements. Thus, processors 512 may include one or moreintegrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functionsof processors 512. In addition, each integrated circuit may includecircuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured toperform the functions of processors 512.

As described herein, the modem 520 may include hardware and softwarecomponents for implementing features for using RRC multiplexing toperform transmissions according to multiple radio access technologies inthe same frequency carrier, as well as the various other techniquesdescribed herein. The processors 522 may be configured to implement partor all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing programinstructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitorycomputer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition),processor 522 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, suchas an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition) theprocessor 522, in conjunction with one or more of the other components540, 542, 544, 550, 570, 572, 335 and 336 may be configured to implementpart or all of the features described herein.

In addition, as described herein, processors 522 may include one or moreprocessing elements. Thus, processors 522 may include one or moreintegrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functionsof processors 522. In addition, each integrated circuit may includecircuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured toperform the functions of processors 522.

FIGS. 6A-6B—5G NR Architecture

In some implementations, fifth generation (5G) wireless communicationwill initially be deployed concurrently with other wirelesscommunication standards (e.g., LTE). For example, whereas FIG. 6Aillustrates a possible standalone (SA) implementation of a nextgeneration core (NGC) network 606 and 5G NR base station (e.g., gNB604), dual connectivity between LTE and 5G new radio (5G NR or NR), suchas in accordance with the exemplary non-standalone (NSA) architectureillustrated in FIG. 6B, has been specified as part of the initialdeployment of NR. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 6B, evolved packet core(EPC) network 600 may continue to communicate with current LTE basestations (e.g., eNB 602). In addition, eNB 602 may be in communicationwith a 5G NR base station (e.g., gNB 604) and may pass data between theEPC network 600 and gNB 604. In some instances, the gNB 604 may alsohave at least a user plane reference point with EPC network 600. Thus,EPC network 600 may be used (or reused) and gNB 604 may serve as extracapacity for UEs, e.g., for providing increased downlink throughput toUEs. In other words, LTE may be used for control plane signaling and NRmay be used for user plane signaling. Thus, LTE may be used to establishconnections to the network and NR may be used for data services. As willbe appreciated, numerous other non-standalone architecture variants arepossible.

FIGS. 7 and 8—Beam Management (BM)

One aspect of 5G may be beam forming and beam management (BM). Beamforming and beam management may include various techniques for creatingdirectional beams for transmitting (Tx) and receiving (Rx) wirelesssignals. A 5G device (e.g., UE 106 and/or BS 102) may use multipleantennas to create such beams. In order to create a communicationchannel between a pair of wireless devices, the devices may selectrespective Tx and Rx beams so that the transmitting device's Tx beampoints toward (e.g., aligns with) the receiving device's Rx beam. BM maybe thought of as the process to select and maintain appropriate Tx andRx beam selection to create a quality communication channel (e.g., asmeasured according to one or more of various metrics of signal strengthand quality such as RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, SNR, CQI, etc.). Various factorsof the communication environment may impact beam selection, e.g.,position and orientation of the devices relative to obstacles (e.g.,buildings), sources of interference, etc. These factors may change overtime (e.g., due to motion of the UE, among other reasons) and thus thepreferred Rx and or Tx beams may also change. Note that both devices mayboth transmit and receive, and thus may use both Tx and Rx beams.

BM frameworks may operate as shown in FIG. 7. A BS 102 (e.g., a gNB 102,e.g., shown as the transmitting device, in this example) mayperiodically or routinely transmit BM channel state information (CSI).BM CSI may include reference signals (e.g., P-CSI-RS: Periodic CSI-RS,SP-CSI-RS: Semi-persistent CSI-RS, SSB: Synchronization Signal Blocks,etc.). The gNB may also periodically transmit RRC configurationinformation that may be relevant to BM. The UE may monitor/measure theRSRP of the beam(s) and may report the RSRP to the gNB (e.g., in a beamquality report). The gNB may monitor beam degradation (e.g., or anychange in beam quality), e.g., based on the reported RSRP. Note thatadditional or alternative measurements may also be taken, reported andused such as RSRQ, SNR, etc. Based on detecting beam degradation (e.g.,due to CSI and/or one or more metrics in the beam quality report passingor falling below a threshold), the gNB may trigger BM procedures. Insome embodiments, aperiodic BM procedures (such as P2/P3, discussedbelow) may be triggered by a gNB if BM CSI is not sufficient to avoiddegradation (e.g., beyond a threshold). Such aperiodic BM procedures maybe UE-specific, e.g., in order to avoid the potentially extensiveresource cost of doing so for UEs generally.

As illustrated, during an exemplary BM procedure, a BS 102 (e.g., a gNB)may transmit a series of beams (e.g., Tx beams 702A, B, C, and D) in asweep (or a series of sweeps) and may transmit RRC configurationinformation relevant to beam management. As used herein, the term“sweep” may indicate sequentially using each of multiple beams. UE 106may detect one or more of the beams, may measure the strength (e.g.,RSRP) or other characteristics of the beam(s), and may provide one ormore reports to the gNB based on the detection(s) and/or measurement(s).During the sweep, the UE may use one or more Rx beams (in theillustrated example, the UE uses two different Rx beams 704X and Y). Oneor more beam sweep periods (e.g., the length of time to transmit Txbeams 702A-D) may occur during a beam report period (e.g., the length oftime until a beam quality report is created and transmitted). In theillustrated example, two beam sweep periods occur during the beam reportperiod.

FIG. 8 illustrates exemplary BM procedures referred to as P2 and P3. P2and P3 may be used to select beams for downlink communications. Forexample, P2 may be used to select transmission beams (e.g., holding thereception beam(s) constant or omnidirectional) and P3 may be used toselect reception beams (e.g., holding the transmission beam(s) constantor omnidirectional). P2 and P3 may be on-demand procedures and rely onaperiodic CSI-RS. For example, upon beam degradation (e.g., beam qualitymetrics falling below a threshold), one or more of P2 or P3 may be usedto select new or better transmission and/or reception beams. In someembodiments, P2 and or P3 may follow P1, which may be a longer moreintensive procedure, e.g., used initially for determining bothtransmission and reception beams.

In P2, a BS 102 transmits a series (e.g., a sweep) of Tx beams 702A-D,e.g., narrow beams at different angles using a set of CSI resources802A-D (CSI resource set or CRS). Note that although four Tx beams areshown, any number of beams (e.g., and corresponding CSI resources) maybe used in the sweeping pattern. A specific CSI resource may correspondto each beam, resulting in the total group of beams using a specificCRS. For example, a CRS consisting of four resources may be used for P2,such that a different resource is used for each of four beams. Morespecifically, Tx beam 702A may use CSI-Resource 802A and so forth. Inother words, the CRS may not be repeated, e.g., repetition is off. Inthe example shown, a receiving UE 106 may use a single, broad receive(e.g., Rx beam 704, which may be an omnidirectional beam) beam duringthe sweep. Based on reports provided by the UE, the gNB may select a Txbeam. The gNB may then use the selected Tx beam (e.g., 702D) forcommunication with the UE.

In the exemplary P3 procedure of FIG. 8, in contrast to P2, the UE 106may perform a sweep of Rx beams 704A-D while the gNB transmits aconstant, broad Tx beam 702 (e.g., an omnidirectional beam). In thisexample, the gNB may use a single CSI resource (e.g., shown as 804A,noting that any CSI resource may be used) during the sweep, e.g.,repetition may be on. Thus, in this exemplary embodiment, the CRS mayonly include a single resource, e.g. CSI-Resource 804A. Based on themeasurements (e.g., RSRP) of the Tx beam using the different Rx beams,the UE may select an Rx beam. The UE may report the selected Rx beam(e.g., 704A) to the gNB, although Rx beam selection reporting may not benecessary. The UE may use the selected Rx beam for receivingcommunications from the gNB.

It will be appreciated that other BM procedures are possible, includingat least P1, U1, U2, and U3. As noted above, P1 may include concurrentand/or sequential sweeps of both the gNB (e.g., Tx beam) and UE (e.g.,Rx). U1, U2, and U3 may correspond to the P1, P2, and P3 procedures,respectively, except in the uplink direction where the roles may bereversed, e.g., the UE may transmit a Tx beam and the gNB may receivewith an Rx beam. Thus, in U2, the UE may sweep across multipletransmission beams and in U3, the gNB may sweep across multiplereception beams. Thus, in some embodiments, procedures P1, P2, and P3may be associated with downlink transmissions and U1, U2, and U3 may beassociated with uplink transmissions.

FIGS. 9A and 9B—Implications of UE Motion

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate the effects of motion of a UE on beamselection. In FIG. 9A, A UE and a gNB may use a first pair of Tx and Rxbeams (e.g., Tx beam 702A and Rx beam 704A) while a UE is in a firstlocation or orientation. The first pair may result in good channelquality (e.g., high RSRP) given the communication environment. As shown,the selected beams may avoid certain obstacles (e.g., 902) and mayinclude reflection from objects (e.g., 904) to achieve a communicativepath. FIG. 9B illustrates that the UE may move or rotate (e.g., as theuser of the UE moves or handles the phone), and as a result the firstpair of Tx and Rx beams may no longer result in good channel quality.The change in the UE's position or orientation relative to thecommunication environment may lead to degradation of the channel, usingthe first pair of Tx and Rx beams. Thus, based on the motion of the UE,selection of a new pair of beams may be desirable. If the gNB detectsthe degradation and is in control of BM procedure selection, it mayignorantly select (e.g., according to trial and error) to trigger a P2procedure; however, a P3 procedure may be more beneficial in theillustrated scenario.

Various observations may be appreciated. The behavior of a base station(e.g., eNB or gNB) may be predictable to a UE. For example, a gNB maytransmit SSB and/or CSI on a known (e.g., periodic) schedule. Changes ina desirable beam (e.g., pair of Tx and Rx beams) may result from changesat the UE, such as movement, rotation, or blockage (e.g., a user's handor body, or other surrounding objects), etc. For example, in thescenario illustrated in FIG. 9B, rotation of the UE may lead to a changein the preferred Rx beam (e.g., Rx beam 704B may be preferred in the neworientation, or more generally a P3 process may be appropriate to selecta new Rx beam). The UE may thus know better than a gNB what actions maybe taken to mitigate such changes. For example, the UE may use radiomeasurements and/or other sensors (e.g., accelerometers, GNSS circuitry)to detect changes that may implicate selection of a new beam pair. ThegNB, in contrast, may only be able to detect degradation, and not thefactors leading to the degradation. Thus, the UE may be better able todetermine the cause of degradation and select an appropriate response.However, current BM approaches may not support signaling/reporting froma UE to assist BM procedures (e.g., to initiate P2 vs P3, among otherpossibilities). Accordingly, a gNB may rely on trial and error selectionof BM procedures, which may incur costs of power, resources, and delay.For example, as noted above, in the case of UE rotation, a gNB maydetect RSRP drop (e.g., from a report from the UE) and may trigger P2,although P3 may provide better likelihood of rapidly selecting anappropriate beam pair.

FIG. 10—Flowchart of UE Initiated Beam Management

FIG. 10 illustrates a method for UE initiated beam managementprocedures, according to some embodiments. As a general (e.g.,non-limiting) overview, the method may include: communication between abase station and a UE, detection of degradation of the channel, the UEselecting a preferred beam management procedure, and performing a beammanagement procedure. The beam management procedure may result inselection of a new beam pair.

In some embodiments, such UE-initiated techniques may compare favorablyto other (e.g., gNB-initiated) techniques. In the case of beam-failure,UE initiated techniques may result in reduced delay and reducedoverhead. For example, in the case of gNB-initiated procedures, oncebeam-failure is detected, a gNB may not assume any prior knowledge ofbeams and may initiate a complete, new BM procedure. Similarly, eventhough a gNB may receive a report from a UE and detect beam degradation,it may not be able to tell if such degradation is from, for example, aUE's Rx beam or a BS's Tx beam. A blind try (e.g., a BM procedureinitiated by the BS) may waste resources, time, and UE power. Further,periodic BM monitoring may be insufficient to respond to rapidlychanging conditions.

Aspects of the method of FIG. 10 may be implemented by a wirelessdevice, such as the UEs 106, in communication with a BS 102 asillustrated in and described with respect to FIGS. 1-4, or moregenerally in conjunction with any of the systems or devices shown in theFigures, among other devices, as desired. Note that while at least someelements of the method of FIG. 10 are described in a manner relating tothe use of communication techniques and/or features associated with 3GPPspecification documents, such description is not intended to be limitingto the disclosure, and aspects of the method of FIG. 10 may be used inany suitable wireless communication system, as desired. In variousembodiments, some of the elements of the methods shown may be performedconcurrently, in a different order than shown, may be substituted for byother method elements, or may be omitted. Additional method elements mayalso be performed as desired. As shown, the method may operate asfollows.

In 1002, a UE 106 may establish communication with a BS 102. The UE andBS may exchange control information. Data may also be exchanged. The UEand BS may use any suitable techniques for establishing communication.For example, any Tx and Rx beams may be used. In some embodiments, oneor more beam management procedures may be performed to initiallydetermine the Tx and Rx beams, such as P1 and U1, although P2, P3, U2,and/or U3 are also envisioned.

In 1004, the BS may transmit an indication of a Tx beam to the UE andthe UE may receive such an indication. The indication may specify whichTx beam the BS is using or intends to use for further transmissions tothe UE. For example, after performing the initial beam managementprocedures, the BS may select a Tx beam (e.g., based on P1 or P2) andprovide an indication to the UE of the Tx beam.

The BS may further transmit a request for channel information, e.g.,CSI, and may transmit reference signals (e.g., CSI-RS) that the UE mayuse to determine the channel information. The indication may comprise atransmission configuration indicator (TCI). Alternatively, oradditionally, the UE may be expected to perform channel measurement andreporting on a periodic basis, such as shown in FIG. 7 where beamquality reports are provided from the UE based on every two sweeps, inthat example.

In 1006, the UE may select an Rx beam for use receiving transmissionsfrom the BS. In other words, the UE may determine its best Rx beam thatcorresponds to the selected Tx beam, e.g., based on P1 and/or P3.Similar procedures may be used for uplink Tx and Rx beam selection,although unlike the downlink direction, the BS may select the Tx beam ofthe UE rather than the UE performing that selection.

In 1008, the UE may determine the reception strength and/or quality forone or more (or all) beams in use. For example, the UE may use theselected Rx beam to receive transmissions (e.g., reference signals)transmitted by the BS using the indicated Tx beam. The UE may measureone or more metrics of reception, such as CQI, RSRP, RSRQ, SNR, or SINR,among various possibilities. The UE may transmit the result of themeasurement(s) to the BS, e.g., in the form of a CSI, although otherreporting mechanisms are envisioned. The transmitted results may be abeam quality report.

According to some embodiments, the UE may continuously or periodicallymeasure the reception of a current beam and one or more other beams. Forexample, a relatively frequent “active beam pair link measurement” maybe applied to the current beam and a set of “K” monitored beam pairlinks may be monitored with a less frequent “full beam sweepmeasurement”. The “K” monitored beam pair links may be all availablebeam pairs or may be a subset of available beam pairs. In someembodiments, different subsets may be measured at different timeintervals. For example, a selected subset of K beams that are similar tothe currently active beam may be monitored at a relatively shortinterval, and all available beams may be monitored at a less frequent(longer) interval. Such measurements may be performed according to aregular schedule, e.g., at even time intervals, or may be performed asneeded. For example, a full beam sweep measurement, e.g., to measure allavailable beams or a subset of available beams may be performed inresponse to a result of a measurement of the active beam pair.Measurements of the available beam pairs (including the active beampair) may be compared, ranked, etc. Similarly, a measurement of theactive beam pair, of a subset of available beam pairs, or of allavailable beam pairs may be performed in response to motion of thedevice or activity of the user (e.g., initiating an application, etc.).Still further, such measurements may be initiated in response to anindication from a serving BS or from the network.

In 1010, the UE may detect an opportunity for a beam improvement, e.g.,based on one or more measurements (e.g., described in 1008) or othertrigger conditions. For example, the UE may detect degradation in thechannel using a current beam and/or may detect improvement in at leastone alternative beam. The UE may compare the measured metric(s) (e.g.,metrics of signal strength and quality such as RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, SNR,CQI, etc.) of the current beam to one or more thresholds to assesschannel quality. The thresholds may be preconfigured, set by theBS/network, or set by the UE, as desired. For example, the UE maydetermine that one or more metrics of reception have passed a threshold,e.g., RSRP may fall below a threshold. The UE may also detect anopportunity based on changes in one or more other monitored beams. Forexample, if one of the K other beams exhibits a higher strength than thecurrent beam, the UE may detect an opportunity for beam improvement.Still further, the UE may determine the rate of change of measurementsof the current beam and/or alternative beams and detect an opportunityfor beam improvement based on such rates of change (e.g., based on arapid change in one or more beams). Additionally, or alternatively, theUE may detect an opportunity for beam improvement based on motion (e.g.,change of orientation and/or position) of the UE. Some further exampletrigger conditions include:

Physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and/or physical downlinkcontrol channel (PDCCH) SNR (either based on the most recent measurementor hypotheses of upcoming measurements) may be below a certain thresholdfor all DL RSs specified in the current TCI table.

The maximum L1-RSRP (e.g., physical layer RSRP, e.g., RSRP measured atlayer 1 or L1) may be smaller than a threshold. In other words, thestrongest beam pair link (e.g. serving beam pair link or current beam)may become weaker than a threshold. For example, the threshold may bepre-configured by RRC.

A number of beams with L1-RSRP greater than a first threshold may besmaller than a second threshold. In other words, the number of beamsstronger than a strength threshold may be less than a beam-numberthreshold. For example, this may indicate that the number of beamsstrong enough to be viable is below the beam-number threshold.

A new beam (e.g., Tx beam and/or Rx beam) may be discovered with L1-RSRPgreater than a current strongest beam. For example, there may be a newbeam that is stronger than some (or all) of the K monitored beam pairlinks, or an existing beam may have become stronger than at least someother beams. For example, such a result may indicate that a better beamoption may be (or may become) available.

The current beam (e.g., a previously strongest beam) may no longer bethe strongest among the set of “K” monitored beam pair links.

All of the K monitored beam pair links may become weaker than athreshold. Such a threshold may be pre-configured by RRC. Thispotentially may be relatively urgent, e.g., to avoid a potential beamfailure.

The Rx (e.g., DL) beam strength may be still good, but no response maybe received from a BS (e.g., indicating a problem with the Tx beam). Forexample, no response to certain types of messages (e.g. SR, PUSCH) mayindicate a failure of the UL/Tx beam.

Motion of the UE (e.g., including rotation/change of orientation and/orchange of location/position) may be a trigger to initiate a BMprocedure.

Triggers may be detected by periodic sweeps or by other measurements(e.g., periodic measurements of the serving beam, as described above incontext of 1008).

In 1012, the UE may select a preferred beam management parameter. Thebeam management parameter may be a beam management procedure, set ofreference signals, and/or a related parameter. The beam managementprocedure and/or parameter may be usable for selection of a new beampair. In other words, the UE may determine one (or, potentiallymultiple) beam management procedure from a plurality of possible beammanagement procedures. For example, the plurality of possible beammanagement procedures may be or include P1, P2, P3, U1, U2, and U3,among various possibilities. Further, the UE may select one or morerelated parameters in addition to selecting a beam management procedure.

The UE may use various information to select the preferred procedureincluding the channel quality information and the output of varioussensors of the UE. For example, the UE may consider data from one ormore sensors related to its motion and/or orientation, such asgyroscopes, accelerometers, GNSS circuitry, compasses, etc. For example,if a change in the orientation of the UE is approximately coincidentwith or correlated with a drop in the measured RSRP, the UE may select aBM procedure based on a sweep by the UE, e.g., P3. Alternatively, a UEmoving consistently, e.g., such as along a highway, withoutsignificantly changing orientation may select a BM procedure based on asweep by the BS instead of (or in addition to) a sweep by the UE, suchas P2 or P1. As another example, if the UE determines that beamdegradation has occurred across all measured reception beams (and notonly the selected reception beam), the UE may select P2 or P1.

The UE may determine a set of preferred reference signal configurations(e.g., CSI-RS or SRS) for use in beam selection or measurement. Forexample, a configuration may include one or more of number of resourcesor ports in the reference signal, periodicity of the reference signaltransmission, or number of repetitions of configured reference signals.The reference signals may be associated with one or more transmissionand/or reception beams. Thus, the selected reference signals mayindicate one or more beams to measure, e.g., to determine a beamoffering better performance under current conditions. In other words,the selected reference signals may be used for a beam managementprocedure (e.g., P1, P2, P3, U1, U2, and U3, etc.) and/or may be used ina custom manner, e.g., to test/measure certain beams.

Additional, related parameters/information may also be selected. The UEmay select any of a variety of parameters of the requested BM procedure.Among other possibilities, the UE may select one or more of: a TCI(transmission configuration indicator), number of beams, number of CSIresources, degree of granularity, width or narrowness of beams, arecommended time for the procedure, identity of specifically recommendedresources (e.g., in the time and/or frequency domains) for theprocedure, etc.

As noted above, a TCI may be selected. The TCI may provide additionaldetail for selecting a Tx beam or beams to use for a BM, e.g., toinclude in a sweep. The TCI may help a gNB determine how to aim orrefine the beams.

In some embodiments, the UE may select and recommend a specific set ofTx/Rx beams or may recommend a narrowed set of possible beams (e.g., arecommendation to perform a BM procedure sweeping only a few, e.g., mostlikely, beams). For example, a UE may recommend a specific beam or beamsbased on its rotation and/or motion. For example, the rotating UE 106 ofFIG. 9 may recommend UE 106's beam 704B based on its rotation, and mayfurther recommend continuing to use the BS 102's beam 702A.Alternatively, the rotating UE 106 may recommend a BM procedure testingUE 106's beams 704B and C.

As noted above, in some embodiments, the UE may send to the network(e.g., to the BS) an indication of the required number of resources(e.g., size of the CRS) to perform the indicated BM procedure. Thisapproach may be applied to BM procedures wherein the UE performs asweep, such as P3, P1, U1, or U3, among other possibilities. The numberof resources may be useable by the gNB to guide, narrow, or focus the BMprocedure. For example, the number of resources may implicitly indicatethat the UE is capable of a hierarchical search approach. As illustratedin FIGS. 14-17 and described in more detail below, a hierarchical searchmay require fewer resources and less time to complete than a sequentialsearch. Therefore, based at least in part on the indication of therequired number of resources, the gNB may recognize that the UE onlyrequires resources (e.g., CSI) for a hierarchical search (e.g., asopposed to a sequential search). The beam refinement process may rely onhierarchical techniques such as those described in more detail below.This may save time and resources for beam selection, benefiting both thenetwork and the UE, which may also save battery power.

In 1014, the UE may provide an indication to the BS of the preferred BMprocedure, selected reference signals, and/or related parameters. Theselected BM procedure (e.g., which may be explicitly or implicitlyindicated to the BS) may be one of P1, P2, P3, U1, U2, or U3. A selectedset of reference signals may implicitly (and/or explicitly) indicate aBM procedure. The indication may be transmitted by any suitable methodand any suitable format. For example, such information may be carried atleast by one of the following: short or long physical uplink controlchannel (PUCCH), media access layer (MAC) control element (MAC CE) inphysical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), or special preambles associatedwith either contention-based or contention-free random access channel(RACH) messages. Any of various techniques for encoding the indicationin such messages may be used, as desired.

In some embodiments, a UE may send information to a gNB to indicate arequested BM procedure, reference signals, and/or related parameters ina PUCCH. The information may be included in a PUCCH in any way. Forexample, a dedicated PUCCH in a short or long format, e.g., a new PUCCHformat may be created for this purpose. Alternatively, a field of N-bitsmay be included in an existing PUCCH format. The information may beencoded in the PUCCH in any of various ways. For example, in a 4-bitbit-field, each bit may correspond to a preferred BM procedure (e.g.,0010 may correspond to the second BM procedure in a list of fourprocedures). Alternatively, a 2-bit field that indicates four values,each corresponding to one of four predefined BM procedures may be used(e.g., P2, P3, U2, or U3). Any number of bits may be used to correspondto a selected BM procedure.

According to various embodiments, additional parameter information, suchas TCI, may be included in its own field, or may be included in a jointbit-field with a preferable BM procedure. A joint bit field may be asingle field used to indicate two or more parameters, e.g., TCI and BMprocedure. Note that the number of bits needed to include the parametersmay depend on the number and size of the parameters, e.g., the number ofbits needed may depend on the size of the TCI. Examples including TCIand/or BM procedure information in a PUCCH are shown in FIGS. 11A-D anddescribed below. Note that techniques similar to those disclosed inFIGS. 11A-D may be applied to additional parameters other than TCI, suchas number of resources.

In some embodiments, instead of including the indication information inPUCCH, the UE may transmit the information in a MAC CE or in a RACHpreamble. Exemplary methods of including such information in a RACHpreamble are illustrated in FIG. 12 and described below.

Upon transmitting such an indication (e.g., in a PUCCH, or any otherformat), a UE may start a timer during which the UE monitors eitheraperiodic CSI triggers or Sound Reference Signal Resource Set (SRS)triggers. In some embodiments, the UE may not (e.g., may not be allowedto) request another BM procedure until the timer expires (e.g., thetimer may be configured by RRC).

The UE may monitor for a response (e.g., from the BS triggering a BM)either on the regular control resource set (CORESET) as monitoring dataor on a dedicated CORESET. Note that if a TCI value is included, the UEmay monitor CORESET that is quasi-collocated with the RS indicated bythe TCI.

In response to receiving an indication of a preferred BM and anyadditional parameters, a gNB may trigger a BM procedure in 1016. The BSmay trigger the preferred BM procedure and may use any additionalparameters indicated.

For example, a UE may send a request for a specified or impliedpreferable BM procedure according to any of the methods disclosed hereinand a gNB may receive the request. If the BM procedure is a downlinkprocedure, the gNB may trigger CSI reporting on a preconfigured CSI-RSresource set (CRS), where each CRS may correspond to either P2 or P3.Thus, the indicated CRS may trigger the BM procedure. For example, a CRSwith four CSI-RS resources may be used for P2 or a CRS with a singleCSI-RS resources may be used for P3. In some embodiments, no furtherexplicit signaling may be required. The UE may, in coordination with thegNB, perform the procedure and measure the resulting channel (e.g.,according to any metric(s) of strength or quality), and may report theresults to the gNB.

If the BM procedure is an uplink procedure, the gNB may signal to the UEwhether to apply the same or different Tx beams for an Sound ReferenceSignal Resource Set (SRS), e.g., as already indicated.

In some embodiments, the BS may not trigger a BM procedure or maytrigger a different BM procedure than indicated by the UE.

FIGS. 11A-D—PUCCH Format Examples

FIGS. 11A-D illustrate various mechanisms for including requested BMand/or TCI information in PUCCH. Other formats are possible; inparticular formats may be specified for different numbers of BMprocedures or to specify different combinations of BM procedure and TCI.Similarly, values and meanings may be arranged differently than shown inthe illustrated examples.

FIG. 11A illustrates an exemplary 4-bit field. Each bit of the 4-bitfield may correspond to a preferred BM procedure, e.g., a 1 in the Bit 1place may indicate that the UE prefers/recommends P3 (e.g., the otherbits may be zeroes).

FIG. 11B illustrates an exemplary 2-bit field. Each value may correspondto a preferred BM procedure, e.g., “01” may indicate that the UEprefers/recommends P3.

FIG. 11C illustrates an exemplary additional 2-bit field for indicatingTCI. TCI may indicate a QCL relationship between downlink referencesignals of a set and uplink reference signal ports. A TCI-State IE mayassociate one or two DL reference signals with a corresponding QCL type.Each value may correspond to a preferred/recommended TCI for use with anindicated BM procedure, e.g., “01” may indicate TCI 1. For example, TCI0 may imply P1 procedure, TCI 1 may imply P2 procedure, TCI 2 may implyP3 procedure and TCI 3 may imply that the UE does not have anypreference of a possible procedure. In general, any combinations of {P1,P2, P3} and {U1, U2, U3} may be associated with one (or potentiallymore) of the TCI states.

FIG. 11D illustrates an exemplary 2-bit field for indicating both a BMprocedure and TCI. Each value may correspond to a preferred BM procedureand TCI, e.g., “01” may indicate P3 and TCI 1. Thus, in the joint fieldof 11D each bit value may be overloaded and indicate both the desired BMprocedure as well as TCI value.

FIG. 12—RACH Preamble Examples

FIG. 12 illustrates various mechanisms for including requested BM and/oradditional parameters (e.g., TCI information, number of resources, etc.)in a RACH preamble. These techniques may rely on Zadoff-Chu (ZC)sequences. The parameters of the ZC sequence may be varied to createdifferent preambles which are all orthogonal. FIG. 12 is a tableillustrating these parameters. For example, two orthogonal RACHpreambles may have the same v (e.g., cyclic shifts of the random accesspreamble) but different u (e.g., ZC sequence index), or different v butthe same u.

A UE may be configured with a set of special preambles, where each ofthem is associated with a unique UE ID and an implication of one or moredesired BM procedures. An association between preamble and a recommendedBM procedure may be indicated by u, v or Ncs; for example, eachrespective one of the predefined set of values may be used to indicate arespective BM procedure.

Transmission of such a special preamble may be either on acontention-based or contention-free RACH. For example, a UE may transmiton a RACH corresponding to an SSB quasi-collocated with the CSI-RS thatthe UE wants to use to refine the beam. Alternatively, a UE may transmiton the first available and viable RACH resource.

FIG. 13—Mapping Rule and Trigger Conditions

In some embodiments, the UE 106 may map a set of measurements (e.g.,radio measurements and/or sensor measurements) to the desired BMprocedure or operations (e.g., including additional parameters). The UEmay not send a request or report without any conditions, e.g.,measurements that suggest that a BM is needed. In order to inform the BS102 (e.g., gNB, which may accordingly decide how to move forward, e.g.,with a specific BM procedure) the UE may encapsulate or map the detailsof a measurement into an indication or implication (e.g., a bit field)indicating a desired operation. In order to quickly deliver theindication (e.g., in a PUCCH, preamble, or MAC CE), the size of themessage (e.g., number of bits) may be limited and the message may notcarry much information. Note that reports through RRC may carry morebits, but may not be suitable for BM selection due to the length of timeinvolved. Further, some conditions (e.g., output from a motion sensor)may be relevant to BM, but may not be included in technicalspecifications. Thus, similar to a CSI report, the UE may make aselection/prediction of what BM operation including related parametersis best and relay this prediction to the BS or gNB. FIG. 13 shows anexemplary mapping table. The table shows a UE preference for P2 vs P3 ina 2-bit field, and lists example conditions that may lead to eachpreference. Numerous additional trigger conditions, and correspondingmappings, are also envisioned. The relation between trigger conditionsand BM (and/or other parameters) may be configured as desired.

Figures Illustrating Sequential and Hierarchical Receiver Beam Sweeping

FIG. 14 illustrates various Tx and Rx beams. In sequential Rx (or Tx,e.g., a Tx beam sweep process may be similar or symmetric to theillustrated Rx process) beam sweeping, the Rx beam may proceed throughseveral different orientations while the Tx (or Rx) beam remainsconstant. In this approach, the amount of resources (e.g., # of OFDMsymbols) and time may linearly increase as the number of Rx (or Tx)beams to sweep increases. As illustrated, over 8 time periods (e.g., t=0to t=7), the Tx beam may remain constant while the Rx beam maysequentially “sweep” through various directions. Thus, over the courseof the 8 time periods, 8 OFDM symbols may be used and 8 Rx beams may be“swept”, e.g., tested.

FIG. 15 illustrates 15 Rx beams, showing a hierarchical structure (e.g.,a beam tree). A hierarchical structure may allow the Rx beam searchingtime and amount of resources to be reduced significantly. In otherwords, the time and resource requirements of a hierarchical searchapproach may increase logarithmically as a function of the number of Rxbeams, in contrast to the linear increase described above with respectto FIG. 14 and a sequential search. As will be appreciated, otherhierarchical structures and other numbers of beams are possible and maybe configured as desired. As shown, beams 1-8 are level 1 beams. Thelevel 1 beams may be considered narrow or focused beams, and may offerbetter reception than the higher-level beams, e.g., after a level 1 beamthat is appropriate to the conditions is identified. Beams 9-12 arelevel 2 “wide beams” where each wide beam covers 2 level 1 beams (e.g.,9 approximately covers 1 and 2). Beams 13 and 14 are level 3 beams andbeam 15 is omni-directional (e.g., level 4). Note that a level may covertwo or more beams in a lower level, e.g., depending on the constructionof beams (or beam tree). In other words, each node may have differentnumbers of child nodes, depending on the beam tree design orconstruction method. Beam tree design may be configured as desired.

The goal of a hierarchical sweep may be to find a level 1 beam thatoffers high (e.g., the best) level of reception (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ, SNR,etc.).

FIG. 16 illustrates an exemplary hierarchical search process with 16level 1 Rx beams (e.g., beams 1-16), 8 level 2 beams (17-24), 4 level 3beams (25-28), two level 4 beams (29-30), and a single level 5 beam,e.g., beam 31 which may be omni-directional. Thus there are 31 total Rxbeams in the illustrated example.

To perform the search, only two beams may be compared at each level(e.g., based on strength, quality, interference, etc.). The four levels(e.g., it may be appropriate to test levels 1-4, and level 5 may beskipped) may result in 2*4=8 total Rx beam switchings (e.g., switches,changes), in comparison to a sequential search which may require 16 beamswitches (e.g., sequentially testing each of the level 1 beams 1-16).Step 1 may compare beams 29 and 30 (e.g., level 4), selecting beam 29.Step 2 may compare beams 25 and 26 (e.g., level 3), selecting beam 26.Step 3 may compare beams 19 and 20 (e.g., level 2), selecting beam 20.Step 4 may compare beams 7 and 8, selecting beam 8 as the preferredlevel 1 beam.

Note that similar techniques (e.g., using hierarchical sweeps) may beapplied to select Tx beams. For example, although FIGS. 15 and 16 havebeen described above in terms of Rx beams, Tx beams may exhibit similarrelationships, e.g., spatially and in terms of hierarchical structure.Accordingly, similar hierarchical search processes may be applied to Txbeams. Still further, a combined Tx and Rx search process may use suchhierarchical techniques.

FIG. 17 illustrates a summary comparison of sequential and hierarchicalRx beam search. If the number of beams X is 2{circumflex over ( )}N,where N is the number of levels, then a sequential search may require2{circumflex over ( )}N beam sweeps (e.g., switches) and correspondingly2{circumflex over ( )}N OFDM symbols. Hierarchical binary sweeping mayrequire 2*log₂(X)=2*N sweeps and symbols. For example, in the case of 32Rx beams (X=32=2{circumflex over ( )}N), N=5. Thus 32 (=2{circumflexover ( )}5) switches are required for a sequential search while only 10(=2*5) are required for a hierarchical search. The number of beams tosweep may depend on beam tree design. For example, in ternary beamsweeping (e.g., each node in a beam tree has three child nodes) thetotal number of beams may be given as 2*log₃(X).

Further Examples

In the following, exemplary embodiments are provided.

In one set of embodiments, a method for performing beam management, maycomprise a user equipment (UE) device: establishing wirelesscommunication with a base station; receiving an indication of atransmission beam of the base station used for communication with the UEdevice; determining a reception beam of the UE device used forcommunication with the base station based at least on the indication ofthe transmission beam; detecting degradation of wireless communicationbetween the base station and the UE using at least the transmission beamof the base station and the reception beam of the UE device; determininga beam management procedure based on said detecting the degradation ofthe communication between the base station and the UE; providing anindication of the beam management procedure to the base station; andperforming the beam management procedure.

In some embodiments, said determining the beam management procedure maycomprise determining a number of channel state information (CSI)resources for performing the beam management procedure, wherein saidproviding the indication comprises providing an indication of the numberof CSI resources, and wherein performing the beam management procedureuses the number of CSI resources.

In some embodiments, said determining the beam management procedure mayfurther comprise determining a number of receive beams for performingthe beam management procedure, wherein said providing the indicationcomprises providing an indication of the number of receive beams, andwherein performing the beam management procedure uses the number ofreceive beams.

In some embodiments, said determining the beam management procedure maycomprise determining a number of sounding reference signal (SRS)resources for performing the beam management procedure, wherein saidproviding the indication comprises providing an indication of the numberof CSI resources, and wherein performing the beam management procedureuses the number of CSI resources.

In some embodiments, said determining the beam management procedure maycomprise determining a number of transmission beams for performing thebeam management procedure, wherein said providing the indicationcomprises providing an indication of the number of transmission beams,and wherein performing the beam management procedure uses the number oftransmission beams.

In some embodiments, the method may further comprise: determining atransmission configuration indicator based on said detecting thedegradation of the communication between the base station and the UE;and providing an indication of the transmission configuration indicatorto the base station.

In some embodiments, said detecting degradation may comprise determiningthat one or more trigger conditions is satisfied.

In some embodiments, the one or more trigger conditions may comprise oneor more of: reference signal received power is less than a threshold;channel quality indicator is less than a threshold; or signal-to-noiseratio is less than a threshold.

In some embodiments, the method may further comprise: detecting motionof the UE device, wherein said determining the beam management procedureis based at least in part on the motion of the UE device.

In some embodiments, the motion of the UE device may comprise rotationof the device.

In some embodiments, the motion of the UE device may comprise a changein the location of the device.

In some embodiments, the beam management procedure may comprise one ofP2, P3, U2, or U3.

In some embodiments, said providing an indication of the beam managementprocedure to the base station may comprise transmitting a physicaluplink control channel (PUCCH) message.

In some embodiments, said providing an indication of the beam managementprocedure to the base station may comprise transmitting a media accesslayer (MAC) control element (MAC CE) in a physical uplink shared channel(PUSCH) message.

In some embodiments, said providing an indication of the beam managementprocedure to the base station comprises transmitting a preamble to arandom access channel (RACH) message.

A further set of embodiments may comprise a user equipment device,comprising: at least two antennas; at least one radio coupled to theantennas; and a processing element coupled to the radio; wherein thedevice is configured to: communicate with a base station using a firstbeam; detect an opportunity for beam improvement; select a beammanagement parameter; and provide an indication of the beam managementparameter to the base station.

Another exemplary embodiment may include a wireless device, comprising:an antenna; a radio coupled to the antenna; and a processing elementoperably coupled to the radio, wherein the device is configured toimplement any or all parts of the preceding examples.

A further exemplary set of embodiments may include a non-transitorycomputer accessible memory medium comprising program instructions which,when executed at a device, cause the device to implement any or allparts of any of the preceding examples.

A still further exemplary set of embodiments may include a computerprogram comprising instructions for performing any or all parts of anyof the preceding examples.

Yet another exemplary set of embodiments may include an apparatuscomprising means for performing any or all of the elements of any of thepreceding examples.

Yet another exemplary set of embodiments may include a 5G NR networknode or base station configured to perform any action or combination ofactions as substantially described herein in the Detailed Descriptionand/or Figures.

Yet another exemplary set of embodiments may include a 5G NR networknode or base station that includes any component or combination ofcomponents as described herein in the Detailed Description and/orFigures as included in a mobile device.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be realized in any of variousforms. For example, some embodiments may be realized as acomputer-implemented method, a computer-readable memory medium, or acomputer system. Other embodiments may be realized using one or morecustom-designed hardware devices such as ASICs. Still other embodimentsmay be realized using one or more programmable hardware elements such asFPGAs.

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable memory mediummay be configured so that it stores program instructions and/or data,where the program instructions, if executed by a computer system, causethe computer system to perform a method, e.g., any of the methodembodiments described herein, or, any combination of the methodembodiments described herein, or, any subset of any of the methodembodiments described herein, or, any combination of such subsets.

In some embodiments, a device (e.g., a UE 106) may be configured toinclude a processor (or a set of processors) and a memory medium, wherethe memory medium stores program instructions, where the processor isconfigured to read and execute the program instructions from the memorymedium, where the program instructions are executable to implement anyof the various method embodiments described herein (or, any combinationof the method embodiments described herein, or, any subset of any of themethod embodiments described herein, or, any combination of suchsubsets). The device may be realized in any of various forms.

Although the embodiments above have been described in considerabledetail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent tothose skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated.It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace allsuch variations and modifications.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for performing beam management,comprising: by a base station: establishing wireless communication witha user equipment device (UE); transmitting, to the UE, an indication ofa transmission beam of the base station used for communication with theUE; transmitting, to the UE, a reference signal using the transmissionbeam; receiving, from the UE, an indication of a preferred beammanagement parameter; and performing a beam management procedureaccording to the indication of the preferred beam management parameter.2. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication includes an indicationof a number of resources, and wherein performing the beam managementprocedure uses the number of resources.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein the indication includes a number of beams for performing thebeam management procedure and wherein performing the beam managementprocedure uses the number of beams.
 4. The method of claim 3, whereinthe number of beams is equal to the number of resources.
 5. The methodof claim 3, wherein the number of beams is a number of receive beams,wherein the number of resources is a number of channel state informationresources.
 6. The method of claim 3, wherein the number of beams is anumber of transmission beams, wherein the number of resources is anumber of sounding reference signal resources.
 7. The method of claim 2,wherein the number of resources indicates that the UE is capable of ahierarchical search process.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein theindication includes a transmission configuration indicator.
 9. Anapparatus for managing a base station, the apparatus comprising: aprocessor configured to cause the base station to: communicate with auser equipment device (UE); transmit, to the UE, an indication of atransmission beam; transmit, to the UE, a reference signal using thetransmission beam; receive, from the UE, an indication of a beammanagement parameter; and perform a beam management procedure accordingto the beam management parameter.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9, whereinthe indication includes a transmission configuration indicator.
 11. Theapparatus of claim 9, wherein the indication includes a media accesslayer (MAC) control element (MAC CE).
 12. The apparatus of claim 9,wherein the indication includes a physical uplink control channel(PUCCH) message.
 13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein to communicatewith the UE comprises using a first beam pair, wherein the apparatus isfurther configured to cause the UE to perform periodic measurements ofat least the first beam pair.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein theapparatus is further configured to cause the UE to perform periodicmeasurements of at least one additional beam pair, wherein the beammanagement parameter is based on a comparison of measurements of thefirst beam pair to measurements of the at least one additional beampair.
 15. A base station, comprising: at least two antennas; at leastone radio coupled to the antennas; and a processor coupled to the radio;wherein the processor is configured to cause the base station to:communicate with a user equipment device (UE) using a first beam;transmit, to the UE, an indication of the first beam; receive, from theUE, an indication of a beam management parameter; and perform a beammanagement procedure in accordance with the indication of the beammanagement parameter.
 16. The base station of claim 15, wherein theindication of the beam management parameter includes a media accesslayer (MAC) control element (MAC CE) in a physical uplink shared channel(PUSCH) message.
 17. The base station of claim 15, wherein theindication of the beam management parameter includes a preamble to arandom access channel (RACH) message.
 18. The base station of claim 17,wherein a preamble of the RACH message includes a Zadoff-Chu sequence,wherein the Zadoff-Chu sequence indicates the beam management parameter.19. The base station of claim 15, wherein the indication of the beammanagement parameter includes a transmission configuration indicator.20. The base station of claim 15, wherein the indication of the firstbeam includes a transmission configuration indicator.